


Kitchen Duty

by callmeonetrack



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Groping, Infidelity, Kissing, Light Angst, Water Fight, pre-mini
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:04:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9330614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmeonetrack/pseuds/callmeonetrack
Summary: After a dine-and-ditch goes wrong, Kara and Lee wash dishes and bond.





	

“I still can’t believe you did that.” Lee swiped at the sweat beading on his forehead with the back of his hand, being careful not to get soap in his eyes.

“What? You’ve never dined and ditched before?” Kara shot a disbelieving look at him then shook her head. “Wait, what am I saying? Of course, the golden boy would never dare.”

She took a wet dish out of his hands and dried it with a few swipes of a not-so-clean hand towel. Lee made a mental note to never order any food at this bar ever again. Actually, after tonight, he’d probably never even be able to come back to this place. He felt irritation prickle again. He liked this bar.

“Well, it is stealing you know.”

“Please. Al’s not gonna go broke over two burgers and a salad.” She frowned and plunked the dish in a rack, then reached up to twist her now shoulder-length hair up into a short ponytail. He was surprised she hadn’t cut it yet, she was always grousing about how long it was getting. Lee would never tell her, but he liked it long. “Besides, if Rick had been on duty instead of that new asswipe of a night manager we would’ve been fine. Obviously, no one told the new guy that Zak and I have a tab.”

Lee blinked and looked away from the swell of Kara’s outstretched biceps, drifting up her shoulder to the dark ink of the tattoo against the pale skin of her nape. She wasn’t his type at all. Not the kind of girl he’d ever been attracted to. He just wondered why his body had such a hard time remembering that. He shifted, pressing his hips closer to the big sink.

“Well, at least Zak didn’t get stuck with kitchen duty.”

“And if you had just followed us, instead of stopping to give the guy an explanation of the Caprican judicial system…” She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. Lee wanted to ask why she’d stopped and come back for him even though she could have run off with Zak. He wasn’t sure he’d get an answer though so he kept it to himself.

“Hey! I kept us out of the brig, didn’t I? You should be thanking me. A night of dirty dishes is a lot better than another citation in your jacket.”  
  
 She flashed a sly look at him and her lips curved upwards. “You’re a real knight in shining armor, eh? You want a thank you?” She slid a step closer to him, letting her arm brush against his hip. “What’d ya have in mind, Lee?”   
  
Her voice was low and teasing and Lee knew better than to take her seriously. He shot her a warning glance and twisted away from the heat of her eyes to grab another stack of dishes and plop them in her hands. “The only thing on my mind is getting these done and getting the hell out of here.”

Kara stuck her tongue out at him for not playing along, but shifted back a few steps and Lee exhaled. “I don’t know where the heck your brother is anyway. I figured he’d have come along to bust us out by now. ” She craned up on her toes to look out the high window over the sink and Lee couldn’t help but turn his head to take in the curve of her spine and the way her very tight jeans stretched over her backside as she arched upward. She was wearing a tank top that didn’t quite cover her stomach and he got a flash of taut abs and tanned skin before his eyes slid higher. Kara was leaning forward, arms braced close to her body on the edge of the sink and her chest was thrust out, the neckline of her tank plunging low over generous curves. Faintly he realized he was staring, but he couldn’t have looked away if an entire squadron of centurions had suddenly burst through the kitchen door.     
  
The steam from the hot water running in the sink had left a sheen of perspiration on her collarbone, and he watched as a drop of sweat glistened, trailing down between her breasts. Lee’s mouth went dry, eyes locked on Kara’s body, when he heard her clearing her throat. Reluctantly he tore his gaze away to find her staring at him in the reflection of the window. The darkness outside was so complete that the glass acted like a mirror and Kara was smirking dangerously. She’d caught him staring. He flushed.

“Penny for your thoughts, flyboy?”

Lee racked his brain for a topic to discuss other than her rack. He reached down for the sponge and industriously started scrubbing at a soup bowl. “I was just thinking that you aren’t Zak’s usual type.”

She lifted an eyebrow and sank back down on her heels. He saw her face change, get blanker. It reminded him, inexplicably, of the canopy sliding closed on his viper. Kara’s voice was very even when she said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, it’s not— I mean, you’re— You’re really different that’s all.” As he handed her the bowl to dry, he searched frantically for some way to salvage this. “You and Zak don’t have much in common.”

Lee figured she’d see through him in about a half second. In the two months he’d spent around Zak and Kara, he’d come to realize that despite the fact that she was a few years older than his little brother and his flight instructor, they both had a free spirit and an easygoing nature. It was _Lee_ who didn’t have much in common with her. With either of them, really. Every time they called him to come hang out, he was surprised, in fact. He often felt like a wet blanket around Zak and Kara.

Kara was smiling ruefully now, but her eyes were hard when she raised them to his. “That your polite way of saying I’m not good enough for your brother, Adama?” She huffed a little laugh and very carefully set down the clean dish she was wiping. She reached up and ripped the elastic out of her hair in one swift motion, and the blond strands spilled down like a curtain falling. “I’m surprised you waited this long actually.”

“What? No!” He dropped the sponge and turned to her. “Kara, no.”  
  
Her head was down and he couldn’t see her face anymore, but he thought she was staring at her hands, white-knuckled and clutching the edge of the sink. Slowly and repeatedly, she curled and uncurled her fingers. He wasn’t sure if that meant she was thinking about punching him, but she didn’t move.

Chancing it, Lee reached out and grabbed her shoulders gently and twisted her toward him. “Hey, that’s not what I meant at all.”

She raised her eyes slowly and he was shocked to see pain there. Real pain. It was so incongruous on her face. He’d never seen—never imagined—fearless, laughing Kara looking this way, looking utterly wounded, and it made his breath catch to realize it was his fault. That he’d been the one to put that look there. He instinctively tightened his hands on her shoulders, his fingers kneading the soft bare skin under his hands a little.   
  
She raised her chin, and the look was gone in a flash, replaced by a challenging expression that he knew and understood. “Okay, so what the frak did you mean by it, then?”  
  
“I—I, uh—”he faltered, and he watched her hazel eyes turn dark and hard again. “Religion!” he blurted out. Kara raised her eyebrows like he was insane. “I mean, you, you believe in the Gods. A lot.” He couldn’t read her expression now, so he blundered on to fill the silence. “We’re not religious. We weren’t raised that way. Zak doesn’t believe.”   
  
She was watching him warily now, her expression not as hard, but still distrustful. Lee wanted to kick himself. Gods, twenty-six years old and he still hadn’t figured out how to talk to a pretty girl. Not that she was pretty. That was probably the least fitting word in the known language to describe Kara. She was so much more than that.

“How do you know I am?” Her tone was laden with suspicion.

Lee dropped his hands and shifted uncomfortably, turning away partially. “I might’ve seen you once,” his voice was low, barely above a murmur, “praying to your statues.”  
  
He missed the flash of irritation that passed over her face because he was too busy thinking about the day in question. Lee reached for the next dirty dish and absentmindedly ran it under the water as he recalled, the day he’d gone to meet Zak at the apartment for a pickup pyramid game and found his brother absent, but Kara kneeling on the floor in the bedroom, two iron figurines clutched in her hands and her head bent reverently. The sun had been streaming through the window in the darkened room and it had outlined her in gold, almost as if she was catching fire. She had lifted her face, eyes still closed, and he’d been struck by the peace so clearly displayed there. He’d known her for only a few weeks then, but he’d never seen Kara Thrace in a moment so quiet and contemplative before or since.

He was jerked out of his reverie by Kara reaching over and pulling the plate out of his hands. “You’re gonna scrub a hole in it, you keep that up,” she said, scornfully. “And that’s none of your business.” She wasn’t wrong. He felt chastened, and more than that, frustrated that he’d said the wrong thing yet again. Lee turned towards the still tall stack of plates and glasses next to him. If they didn’t pick up the pace, they’d be there all night. He probably should’ve been more disappointed at that prospect. 

They worked in silence, Lee washing and Kara drying, and they slipped into a comfortable rhythm. They made a good team, Lee thought. It was too bad Kara would probably never speak to him again.

But he was wrong on that front too. “My father believed in the Gods.” Her voice was low, and broken, as if she’d had to force the words out.

“Believed?” he said mildly, wanting her to go on, but afraid he might raise her ire or somehow shove her into silence again.

“He disappeared when I was a kid. Left me with my mom.” She didn’t look at Lee, just focused on drying the dish at hand, but the way she’d gritted out the words told him enough. “He used to take me to temple with him. It was the only time of the week, I could…” she paused, busy hands stilling. Surprisingly, her lips tipped up into a small smile and she looked at him. “It was safe there.” Shocked at the unspoken possibilities of those small words, he waited for Kara to continue, but she did not. She was still smiling though.

“Do you still go?” he prompted softly. “To temple?”

“Sometimes. Not as often as I should.” Her smile twisted a bit, turned devious. “Like you said, Zak doesn’t believe. And your brother can be very _distracting_ in the morning.”

Lee willed himself not to flush at that little unnecessary piece of information as he turned back to the sink. “Ah.” He waited a beat, but couldn’t stop himself for making the foolish offer that came unbidden to mind. “Well, If you’re not too busy being _distracted_ and you ever want to go, I’d go with you.” He paused, feeling awkward. “You know if you don’t want to go alone.” 

Kara was staring at him in surprise, an eyebrow raised. “Yeah?” Lee nodded, serious eyes locking on hers. “Why? I mean, you just said, you don’t believe either.

He shrugged. “ _‘A wise man keeps an open mind._ ’ That was one of my grandfather’s favorite sayings.” He smiled at the memory. “He was a lawyer. He died when I was a kid, but he’d always say “ _‘Leland—'_ ’"

She cracked a laugh at that. “Wait, _Leland_?!”

He frowned at her, but he was grateful to hear her laughing, so there wasn’t any heat behind it. She sobered again as he continued on. “ _Leland, only a fool dismisses those beliefs which he does not understand. The intelligent man makes it his mission to find out the true nature of those things which hold powerful sway over us._ ”  
  
Kara was watching him with wide eyes, her expression open now and her gaze thoughtful. Then she smiled, a real full smile, and it was dazzling. Lee fleetingly thought of summer at the ocean, the way the world would sharpen with brightness when you came up from a dive. “Sounds like smart men run in your family.”     
  
The subtle reminder of his brother was enough to make Lee feel sheepish, and the slightest bit ashamed. He was completely confused when Kara said, “So it’s a date, then.”   
  
“Hmm?”

“You and me. Temple.” Her smile quirked mischievously and she rolled her eyes. “Some _less distracting_ Sunday.”

He smiled and handed her another plate to dry. Kara made quick work of it then eyed the crowded counter at his elbow. “We’ve more than paid off our bill. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Without waiting for a response, she walked to the door and twisted the handle. “Motherfrakker! He locked us in!” Her eyes were wide, face indignant. She shoved at the door a few times, even kicked it, but it wouldn’t open. Lee watched helplessly, knowing he should probably try to help her, but not really wanting to leave just yet. He was selfish enough—maybe sadistic enough too—to enjoy this alone time with Kara.

She stalked back over to the sink. “Where the hell is Zak anyway?” She frowned. “I bet he’s at home laying on the couch watching a pyramid game and laughing his ass off, little frakker.”

He wanted to defend Zak, but the truth was that sounded just like him. He would taunt them about getting caught for months. Lee reached for an ambrosia glass and ran it through the water. He was just about to tell Kara about the time Zak had let him take the blame for this prank involving their next door neighbor’s yappy dog when the glass slipped out of his hands and shattered against the hard porcelain sink.   
  
“Great,” Kara said, peering over his shoulder. “Guess we’ll have to do a few more plates after all.” Lee sighed and picked up a cloth to try to sweep up all the glass shards from the sink. Kara had just gotten out the words, “Careful, those look really…” when he dragged the cloth over a pile of pieces and accidentally snagged his finger on a jagged edge. “…sharp.”   
  
 “Ow! Frak!!”

He shook his hand, the blood already bubbling up in a thin line across the pad of his thumb. Kara reached over him and turned on the water again, cupping his hand in hers and pushing his thumb under the cool stream. She chanced a look up at him and snickered. “You look a little pale there cowboy, you gonna be alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just…Ow!! Ow!” Lee jerked his hand back away from the water which was starting to sting his cut. Kara rolled her eyes, “Gods, men are such babies about the sight of their own blood.” She caught his hand again, stretching it out between her own and bending closer to the cut. “I don’t see any glass in it. It’s just gonna sting for a bit. It’s not deep enough for stitches but it’ll probably bleed awhile. Those kind of cuts are a real bitch.” She grabbed a clean hand towel and wet it, then wrapped it securely around his thumb and closed her own hand tightly around it, applying pressure.   
  
“You seem like a bonafied expert on this.”

“Played a lot of doctor as a kid.” Then she winked and laughed. But Kara grew solemn after a moment and just said quietly, “I got a lot of practice with cuts and sprains when I was younger. Figured I should know what to do.” She smiled, but it was brittle. “If it’s not broke, I can fix it.”  
  
Kara unwrapped her fingers from around his thumb and gently peeled back the cloth. The bleeding had stopped. “See, good as new?”  
  
“Still stings.”

“Aw poor baby.” The amusement in her voice was obvious. “Want me to kiss it better?” She raised her eybrows. “Make the ickle wickle boo boo go away?” Her voice was crooning and low and sickeningly sweet, and so un-Kara that he couldn’t help but laugh. She was giggling too at the ridiculousness of it all, but she tugged his hand up to her lips and kissed his thumb anyway. The heat from the quick brush of her lips traveled through his hand and little sparks shot up his arm.     
  
She arched an eyebrow at him. “All better?”

Lee shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps we should try your healing method again. I’ve got this other pain in my—”  
  
Kara cackled and slugged his arm for good measure. “If you can attempt a sleazy come-on, then I’d say you’re definitely healed.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Which means…”  
  
Kara snaked her arm out and grabbed the sprayer, detaching it from the faucet and aiming it toward Lee, one hand poised over the cold water knob. “I can declare war without feeling guilty!”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Oh wouldn’t I?” With a savage twist of her lips, she pulled the handle and water shot out, smacking him in the face.

“KARA!” He raised a hand to block most of the spray and reached out with his other arm trying to wrestle the sprayer away from her. Kara held on and they struggled, dousing each other completely as they yanked the sprayer back and forth, neither gaining enough purchase to pull it totally away. Lee decided drastic measures were necessary and he let go of the sprayer and dived for Kara’s ribs, his fingers tickling her sides, as she shrieked.   
  
“Okay, Stop! Lee, STOP!”

“Say ‘Lee Adama is my hero’!”

She ignored him and reached for the collar of his shirt, squirting a stream of cold water down his back. Lee yelped, shivering as the icy liquid cascaded down his spine, but he grabbed Kara tighter, pushing her against the sink and pinning her with his arms and legs. His fingers dug in, finding the pressure spots under her armpits and just above the swell of her hips.

Kara was laughing, gasping for breath, her chest heaving against his, and trying to wriggle away. He caught her left thigh between his, afraid she might kick him, or worse, knee him in the balls. “Say it!”

She snorted. “Ha! Never!” Kara reached down and skittered her fingers across his stomach, hooking them into the waistband of his pants. Lee froze instantly, gasping for air. She shot him a deadly look and yanked hard, tugging the cloth away from his body as much as the stiff denim would let her. She aimed the nozzle of the water spout at the gap and grinned wickedly. “Say ‘Kara Thrace is God’.”

He thought quickly and realized pure strength was his advantage here. Kara was strong, but he was stronger. Realizing he could turn the table again, Lee smirked at her. “I don’t think so.” He kicked her right foot out, throwing Kara off balance and pressed in harder. His hips flattened hers against the sink, chest and shoulders leaning forward and forcing her to bend backwards a little. He wrapped his arms around hers, trapping her hands against his stomach and holding her immobile. “Truce?”  
  
Kara’s eyes were narrowed in determination as she tried to wriggle her way free. Lee panted hard, exhausted from grappling, and realized he may have made a critical tactical error here. She was dripping wet, her clothes molded to every curve and he could feel every damn muscle flexing against him. She bucked her hips trying to throw his weight off, and he nearly groaned. He had to stop her moving like that. Lee leaned forward, forcing Kara to lean back further over the sink till she didn’t have the leverage to shift anymore. Kara was breathing hard, staring up at him in shock, eyes wide as she realized she was fully trapped. Her hands curled into his waistband, knuckles pressing against his stomach and Lee tensed. The kitchen was silent, save for the sound of their rather obscene breathing.   
  
Stretched over her, his eyes were magnetized by her face. He watched as the tip of her tongue darted out moistening her lips and his gaze flicked slowly from her bright eyes to the slick wetness of her mouth. Lee inched closer unable to stop himself, not even fully aware of what he was doing. Her pupils dilated, eyelids lowering to half-mast, and she let out a little sigh, half gasp and half moan. The sound was enough to erase any remaining doubts or niggles of self-consciousness from his mind. He bent his head and sealed his mouth hard over Kara’s.  
  
Despite the lack of brain functionality, a small part of him deep down was aware of the wrongness of this situation and was on alert, expecting Kara to protest at any moment. Lee loosened his arms around her, thinking she would shove him away or plant an elbow in his gut but Kara simply slid her hands up from his stomach over his chest, palms brushing over stiffened nipples and past the swell of his shoulders to wind themselves around his neck and into his hair. Her mouth was a marvel under his. Her tongue stroked between his lips, sliding against his teeth, and stealing the very breath from him. 

Now he was the one making rough little sounds at the back of his throat. His hands smoothed over Kara’s shoulder blades and down to the small of her back, slipping under the wet tank to skim up her sides, thumbs splayed out and rubbing over firm abdominal muscles. Kara groaned into his mouth at the motion, catching his bottom lip lightly between her teeth and sucking on it. The tips of his fingers traveled higher, pushing into the soft underside of her breasts, encased in damp thin cotton. It was a flimsy barrier and he peeled it away, sliding his hands upward and closing around the heavy weight of her against his palms. He brushed a thumb across her pointed nub and Kara gasped into his mouth.   
  
Lee tangled his tongue with her own, probing deeper as he ground his hips against Kara’s. He was hard and aching for her and he tore his mouth away to slide down to suck on her neck. The ends of her wet hair swung forward tickling his face and he could hear Kara fuzzily calling his name. It sounded like a new thing on her lips, like the Lee she spoke of was someone else entirely. Not a man who was second best or trapped in a life he didn’t want, but someone who had things to look forward to.   
  
He kneaded her breast in his hand, and dropped his head to lick a line down her cleavage, his tongue burrowing into the shadowed valley. Lee paused, thinking how easy it would be to get drunk on the taste and feel of her skin, thinking maybe he already was, when Kara’s hands cupped his face and pulled his head up hard.   
  
His eyes focused on her face and before he could even process the words spilling from her lips, he knew. Kara’s expression was tortured, eyes wide and distraught, even as her thumbs stroked over his cheeks. He focused on her words. “…stop, my gods, we have to stop. What the frak are we doing?”

Lee took a shuddering breath and realized he was still clutching her, his palm covering her breast, the other hand gripping her waist hard enough to bruise and he lurched backwards. The reality of their situation crashed over him as he came back to himself, taking in the shabby kitchen in the backwater bar. The guilt came flooding in too, of what he’d just done without a single passing thought for his brother.   
  
Kara was hunched over the sink, tugging at her clothes, her back to him. “Kara, I am so s—”

“DON’T.” She whirled, eyes fixed on him, her face furious. “Don’t you dare say that you’re sorry. That it was all a big mistake.”

“But I didn’t mean—”  
  
“Yes you did, Lee. You did mean it and so did I.” She frowned. “It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. We got caught up in the moment and we got carried away. And it’s not going to happen ever again because it can’t.”   
  
A look of unbearable misery flashed over her face, so quick Lee almost thought he imagined it but he had a sneaky feeling that if he looked in the mirror he’d see a matching expression. But then Kara’s face changed, hardening a little. “I love Zak. And you do too. He doesn’t need to know about this.”

Lee didn’t like the little flare of tension in his chest at her words. He wasn’t a very good liar and the need to confess his sins felt very strong at the moment. But he thought about what he’d be accomplishing by telling Zak about this, and realized it would only serve to ease his own conscience. It didn’t seem fair to Zak—or to Kara either—when he thought of it that way.  
  
He just nodded now, his face solemn.   
  
They turned back to the counter, standing a few feet further apart than before, and Lee picked up another dish to wash. They worked in silence for about five minutes, when there was a rattling at the kitchen door.

Suddenly the lock snicked open and Zak pushed into the room. “Hey guys! Miss me?”

“Where the hell have you been?” Kara asked, her voice a tad sharp.

“Sorry, babe. I turned around when I realized you guys got nabbed but that prick of a manager kept hanging around the door. I had to wait till he left.” He walked across the room and pulled Kara into a one-armed hug, dropping a kiss on her temple. “Hey, you’re all wet!”

“Real observant.” She frowned at Zak, then slid into an easy smile. “Yeah, your brother tried to give me a bath.” Her gaze flicked to Lee and he could read the challenge in it clearly. _Go with it or die_.  
  
“Hey!” he protested, though it felt a little weak to his own ears. “Your girlfriend’s the one who started it. She squirted me with damn water nozzle.”   
  
Zak rolled his eyes. “Oh good, you’ve been bonding. Geesh, am I ever going to be able to leave you two alone without you getting into trouble?”  
  
An awkward pause fell for just a moment, before Kara recovered admirably. “So how’d you get the door open without the key?”

He pulled a deck of triad cards out of his pocket. “Didn’t have a credit card but a couple of these suckers jimmied the lock just as well.”

Lee raised his eyebrows. “Where’d you learn that little trick?”

Zak looked to Kara, who shrugged and grinned. “What can I say? I’m a girl of many talents.”

 _Damn if that wasn’t the truth_ , Lee thought. He stopped himself from remembering just exactly how  talented before things got even more uncomfortable.   
  
Zak slung his arm around Kara’s waist and looked at her and then at Lee. “So, you guys, ready to blow this pop stand or you wanna wash some more dishes?”

“Let’s go. I’ve had my fill of water sports tonight.” Kara chuckled, wringing out her still damp hair.

Lee followed the two of them out the door, wondering how long he’d have to stick around at the apartment before he could politely excuse himself and go home.

“Good. I don’t know about you but I’m beat. Maybe we can sleep late tomorrow.” Zak leered at Kara, making it clear that sleeping wasn’t exactly on his mind, but her face was thoughtful.

“Mmm. No can do. I’ve got plans.”

“You do?” Zak frowned in confusion.

“Yup. I got a hot date.” She grinned, her eyes flicking to Lee. “I’m going to Temple.”  
  
The dumbfounded look on Zak’s face almost made him grin as they piled into his brother’s jeep. As they drove along, Lee pondered his grandfather’s words of wisdom about the things that hold sway over intelligent men.   
  
He turned his head to watch the moonlight glint off her enigmatic smile.  
  
Learning the true nature of Kara Thrace didn’t seem like much of a hardship at all.


End file.
